[POSSIBLE SPOILERS WITHIN] Odin, Zantetsuken, and Matoya question

[LinaNyx]

I recently reached Matoya and after I finished running around for the Frog and the Brooms, I couldn't help thinking about Odin and Zantetsuken. From the side quests in Matoya's cave we learn that Sharlayan's could grant (not sure if that's the word I want) increased intelligence to animals and animate objects, Saro Roggo and the brooms for example.

Now I know that E-Sumi Yan and O–App–Pesi talk about the sword being the Primal but they say repeatedly that what they are saying are theories. I'm wondering if anything definite shows up later on stating the sword is the primal?

If not I wonder if its possible that the original Odin made Zantetsuken like Matoya did her brooms and the sword keeps turning people into Odin kind of like how Y'sayle channeled Shiva into herself. The way I think of it is that Zantetsuken is picked up and taken by the person who beat Odin, it now has access to a host and time to gather enough crystals to resummon Odin.

[Anonymoose]

At this point, pretty much the only thing we are (relatively) sure about with regard to Odin is that the sword is, in fact, a primal essence's corporeal vessel. Odin's been given several labels and several seemingly contradictory backstories, but what remains consistent is that Zanetsuken slowly gathers natural environmental aether over time, tempers ("sunders") whoever picks it up, and at some point unleashes that stored aether to warp the blade's bearer into the new "Odin".

Some say Odin, a warrior of Northern legend, took Zantetsuken from an Au Ra of the Far East, the first to notch his theretofore unsullied plate.
Some say Urth sealed Odin in a crystal prison at the cost of her own life.
Some say Odin killed Urth before being sealed away by an Allagan hero.
Some say Urth and her followers summoned Odin in the first place, that he might strike off the fetters of Allagan tyranny.

Maybe that's all true, in its own way.

We're still waiting on conclusions, and Zantetsuken is still out there.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Given what little we now know about the "auspices" of the Far East, it seems possible to me that Zantetsuken could be an ancient object that spontaneously gained sentience over time. This could especially be the case if the sword was indeed taken from an au ra.

The "auspices" themselves are likely to be inspired by the tsukumogami ( 付喪神 ) of Japanese folklore. The tsukomogami "are basically items and tools from everyday life, which have became animated. Some state that tsukumogami become alive after their 100th 'birthday', if the objects have not been used or thrown away in cold blood".

[LinaNyx]

At first I didn't think much of the theories about the sword being the primal. But the more I played the more I saw how obsessive about crystal/aether primals are. I started doubting that the sword could possibly be the primal. Why would a primal give up aether to summon another primal, honestly I started getting One Ring vibes from what I read about the sword. Seeing Matoya's cave just made the idea of Zantetsuken being the primal seem less likely. If one group of people can make independent intelligent items, so can another.

I don't know anything about "auspices" of the Far East but the idea of tsukumogami is pretty close to what I was leaning toward the sword being. I guess the biggest problem figuring anything out is that so far there just isn't enough information. We have theories and legends but thats it. It leaves the game plenty of wiggle room to do something with Odin and Zentetsuken later on.

Thanks for the responses!

[ObsidianFire]

A lot of how a eikon interacts with the material world depends how what the people who summoned it wanted it to do. Given that Odin/Zantetsuken supposedly dates back to Allagan times, I could see people taking a look at what the Allagans were able to do to Bahamut and the Warring Triad and getting creative to minimize whatever they were summoning from getting sealed in Azyz La.

As far as we can tell, Zantetsuken tempers one person, and one person only; whoever it is that picks it up after the last tempered user of Zantetsuken was killed. Compared to the other eikons who temper almost without thinking about it (for the most part), that's very, very sophisticated. It also makes it really hard to actually stop the eikon as after killing it's bearer, the weapon has to be destroyed and that means someone has to handle it. Also, Odin takes a while to show up, which would give credence to people thinking he had been killed. If you wanted to trick someone into thinking they'd killed an eikon, it's not a bad set-up. For one thing, it'd never have to be summoned again which is what seems to be the biggest hurdle in eikon creation.

If the Summoner's relic quest is right and Zantetsuken/Odin was sealed up in Urth's Fount, why seal them there and not in Azyz La with the rest of the Warring Triad? Given that event happened late enough for people not to forget about it, I'm thinking that might mean Urth sealed Zantetsuken/Odin after Syrcus Tower fell. In which case, I doubt the Allagans ever figured out what was going on with Zantetsuken/Odin which is saying something.

If anything I'd say Zantetsuken reminds me more of the Knights of the Round or Shiva. It's essentially an eikon feeding off a person's aether only instead of being the armor, it's the weapon this time. Really makes me wonder what would happen if Zantetsuken was used by an Echo-user for a long period of time...